Page 10 of Luna & Andres

I started back. Those were my very words to Fox and Reggie.

Red was unmoved. He raised an eyebrow. "You were there. You attacked me, remember?"

Mortale clutched the sides of his head and shook his head. "I wasn't there!"

"Then where were you? And why did I find this necklace nearby?" I questioned him.

Matilda stepped between Mortale and us, and she narrowed her eyes. "You two get outnow."

The woman moved towards us, and Red slid between her and me. His eyes narrowed and his lips curled back in a snarl.

"Don't you dare-"

"Ah!"

The sound that interrupted Red came from Mortale. He clutched his stomach and was doubled over. The woman abandoned her threats and hurried over to him. She put her hands on his shoulders.

"What's the matter, Vince?" she asked him. Vince. That must've been his first name.

He ground his teeth together and shook his head. "There's. . .it feels like my gut's on fire."

"Let's get you to the bathroom. Maybe it was something you ate," she suggested.

"Like your cooking," the old man commented.

She whipped her head up and glared at him. "This ain't the time for jokes, Jeff." She jerked her head towards us. "Get them out of here while I help Vince."

Matilda escorted Vincent down the hall. My eyes flickered to the ill man. He hung his head, but I could see his eyes were wide and scared. Those eyes. They were always that brilliant green color.

Jeff turned to us and shooed us with his hands. "Come on, you heard the woman."

Red snorted. "If that's a woman then I'm a leprechaun."

"Then you can just get back to your pot of gold and leave us alone," Jeff retorted.

I ducked around Red and beneath Jeff's outstretched arms. They both tried to grab me, but they missed and I slipped into the hall.

"Hey!" both men yelled.

The hallway was short, maybe thirty feet, and halfway down on the right side was a plain white door. The door was ajar and I saw the rear end of Matilda. She stepped back and held the door knob in her hand.

"Now just stay there and I'll be right back after I toss those two into the dumpster out back," she assured him. She paused and whipped her head to me. Her eyes narrowed and she slammed the door shut. "You just git out of here!" she ordered me.

I ducked around her thick arms and slipped behind her so I stood in front of the doorway.

"I just want to get answers," I told her.

"Then go shake to a Magic 8 ball because he ain't talking!" she snapped as she stalked towards me.

I grabbed the knob and flung open the door. The room revealed was a long, narrow bathroom. An empty bathroom. The window at the rear of the room was wide open, and the curtains fluttered in a soft breeze.

"Damn it," I muttered.

Matilda stopped in the doorway and her eyes widened. "What the hell!"

Hell is what we entered as a crash came from the living room. We bumped into each other like pin balls in a machine as we tried to get to the hallway opening. The room was a dark disaster. Glass littered the carpet, and the lamps were knocked down and broken. Jeff lay on the ground near the broken front window. Red tussled with two figures near the front door. The intruders wore full-length black suits with ski masks over their faces except for their eyes. Their punches were swung so fast that I could barely follow them.

"Jeff!" Matilda yelled.

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